One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Fort Smith it's a good idea to estimate when it's the best time to plant strawflowers.

Planting Calendar for Strawflowers

Frost tolerance for strawflowers:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant strawflowers a bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant strawflowers in Fort Smith is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant strawflowers and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your strawflowers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your strawflowers indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Fort Smith the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fort Smith is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Fort Smith you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your strawflowers if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Smith

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Fort Smith

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Smith.